The African-based telecoms group has agreed to sell up to 931 towers in Ivory Coast for $141 million and up to 827 towers in Cameroon for $143 million to IHS Holding Limited (IHS).
IHS will hold 100% of shares in the tower companies in each country, and will be served to manage the towers, in addition to other passive infrastructure being sold by MTN CI and MTN CMR.
The companies will become anchor tenants on the towers being purchased for an initial term of 10 years.
‘‘Our Africa experience spans over 20 years and we have acted on matters involving at least 43 of the 54 African nations,” said Simmons & Simmons Paris corporate partner Christian Taylor. “MTN is one of Africa’s great 'success stories' and we have been a regular adviser to them since 2005. We are delighted to act for it again on these passive infrastructure sharing transactions in two countries, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon, that we know very well.”
The transactions are expected to close during the first quarter of 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.
